By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman senior standout Maddie Gragg reached the 1,000-point scoring milestone early in Tuesday night's United Kansas Conference game at Topeka West and the Vikings took control in the second half en route to a 49-26 win.
Seaman senior Maddie Gragg (32) eclipsed the 1,000-point milestone for her career in Tuesday's 49-26 UKC road win at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Gragg entered Tuesday's game needing just three points to reach 1,000 points and scored the first four points of the game to reach the milestone a minute into the contest on the way to a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
"She's so unselfish and her role this year is a lot different than it was the last few years,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "She's taken on that leadership role well and I like that she's bringing the young kids along with her.
"She really doesn't like the attention, but this was a good accomplishment for Maddie and the girls are happy for her, too.''
It took Seaman a lot longer to reach its top form as a team, with the No. 9-ranked (Class 5A) Vikings leading by just four points at the end of the opening quarter (16-12) and by just three points (19-16) at halftime before pulling away after halftime with a dominating performance.
The Vikings, now 6-2 overall and 6-1 in the UKC, scored the first eight points of the second half, building a 27-16 advantage with 6:18 left in the third stanza on a 3-pointer from junior Brynn Spencer.
Seaman led 38-26 at the start of the fourth quarter and pitched a shutout over the final eight minutes, outscoring the Chargers 11-0 to stretch its final advantage to 23 points.
"I had to get into them a little bit at halftime,'' Tinsley said. "And that's just kind of been our thing this year, teams being a little tougher than we are and someone gets in our face and we don't take it right back to them, so I challenged them at halftime pretty good and I'm so proud of how they came back and responded.
"I told them, 'There's no secred to this game. You just have to be stronger than they are and when someone gets in your face you need to accept the challenge because that's what being a competitor is.' ''
Seaman junior Brynn Spencer (top), battling for a loose ball, scored 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers in Tuesday's 49-26 UKC win at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman freshman Baylee Ayres (23) scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Tuesday's 49-26 UKC win at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
In addition to Gragg's double-double, Spencer and freshman Baylee Ayres also scored 10 points apiece while junior Jaydin Frickey added 9 points. Ayres also grabbed nine rebounds and sophomore Lydia Dreher had eight boards.
Junior Sydney Van Dyke scored 7 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Topeka West while junior Aleiah Austin also had 7 points and senior Addaline Hall 6 points and seven rebounds.
Seaman will be right back in action Wednesday, hosting De Soto in a UKC contest, before hosting Leavenworth on Friday while Topeka West will travel to Kansas City-Turner Friday for a conference game.
SEAMAN GIRLS 49, TOPEKA WEST 26
Seaman 16 3 19 11 -- 49
Topeka West 12 4 10 0 -- 26
Seaman (6-2, 6-1) – Frickey 4-4 0-0 9, Dreher 2-3 0-0 4, Spencer 3-5 2-2 10, Ayres 3-10 4-5 10, Gragg 3-14 2-4 10, Ketron 0-0 0-0 0, Puvogel 2-6 2-4 6, Zurmely 0-3 0-0 0, Alfen 0-0 0-0 0, Bruns 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-45 10-15 49.
Topeka West (1-8, 0-7) – Gonzales 0-5 0-0 0, Van Dyke 2-12 3-7 7, Hall 3-13 0-2 6, Kutina 0-2 0-0 0, McGlory 0-6 0-0 0, Allen 1-4 0-0 3, Ogles 1-5 0-0 3, Austin 3-5 0-0 7. Totals 10-52 3-9 26.
3-point goals – Seaman 5 (Spencer 2, Graggs 2, Frickey), Topeka West 3 (Allen, Ogles, Austin). Total fouls – Seaman 10, Topeka West 14. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
